GB2061847A - Inflatable escape slides - Google Patents

Abstract

An inflatable escape slide deployable to provide an inclined descent path for evacuees comprises first and second inflatable slide sections arranged side-by-side, each slide section having a slideway 16, 17 and the two sideways being separated by an inflatable centre wall 13. Flexible baffle means 20 extend throughout the length of the centre wall and subdivide the centre wall internally into non-communicating first and second compartments or series of compartments, the first compartment or series of compartments forming part of and being inflatable with the first slide section and the second compartment or series of compartments forming part of and being inflatable with the second slide section. Inlets are provided for inflation of each slide section independently of the inflation of the other slide section. Upon loss or absence of inflation of one slide section the flexible baffle means 20 distends under inflation of the other slide section or can be made to distend by additional inflation of the other slide section to compensate for the absence or loss of inflation of the centre wall compartment or series of compartments of the uninflated or under-inflated slide section. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Inflatable escape slides The present invention relates to inflatable escape slides deployable to provide an inclined descent path for use in an emergency for example by evacuees from a ship, ground aircraft or building.

An inflatable escape slide which has been proposed comprises first and second inflatable slide sections arranged side-by-side. Each slide section includes an inflatable outer wall held in spaced relation to an inflatable centre wall common to the two slide sections and a slideway arranged between and supported by the outer wall and a centre wall. The inflatable portions of the slide are in communication with each other and the slide is arranged to be inflated from a single source of pressurised air.

It has been found that a leakage of inflation air from any one of the inflatable portions of the proposed slide renders the slide completely unusable and it is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable escape slide which does not suffer from this disadvantage.

According to the present invention there is provided an inflatable escape slide deployable to provide an inclined descent path for evacuees and comprising first and second inflatable slide sections arranged side-by-side, each slide section having a slideway and the two slideways being separated by an inflatable centre wall, flexible baffle means extending throughout the length of the centre wall and subdividing the centre wall internally into noncommunicating first and second compartments or series of compartments, the first compartment or series of compartments forming part of and being inflatable with the first slide section and the second compartment or series of compartments forming part of and being inflatable with the second slide section, and inlet means for inflation of each slide section independently of the inflation of the other slide section, whereby upon loss or absence of inflation of one slide section the flexible baffle means distends under inflation of the other slide section or can be made to distend by additional inflation of the other slide section to compensate for the absence or loss of inflation of the centre wall compartment or series of compartments of the uninflated or underinflated slide section.

In the embodiment of the invention hereinafter to be described, each slide section includes an inflatable outer wall held in spaced relation to the centre wall by inflatable thwart tubes with the slideway of each slide section being arranged between and supported by the outer wall and the centre wall.

The centre wall compartment or series of compartments, the outer wall and the thwart tubes of each slide section are arranged to be in communication with each other and with the inlet means. Pressurised air or gas supply means is provided for inflation of each slide section independently of the other slide section and each supply means includes a main supply and a reserve supply, the main supplies supplying pressurised air or gas for inflation of the slide sections to equal predetermined pressures during normal operation and each reserve supply means supplying reserve pressurised air or gas for topping up a slide section when the baffle means distends following the absence or loss of inflation of the other slide section.

Preferably, each of the two outer walls and the centre wall is formed by a plurality of longitudinally extending superposed inflatable tubes and the baffle means in the centre wall comprises a flexible baffle extending along the length of each tube and across the tube from an uppermost inner surface portion of the tube to a lowermost inner surface portion of the tube to a lowermost inner surface portion of the tube. The baffle then comprises a sheet of flexible material, having a linear dimension between the uppermost and lowermost inner surface portions of the tube which exceeds the distance between the two inner surface portions of the tube.

The slide according to the invention may be provided in combination with an inflatable platform for use by evacuees following descent on the slide and the inflatable platform may be subdivided into non-communicating separately inflatable platform sections arranged for inflation from the slide sections, the platform sections being so disposed that in the event of absence or loss of inflation of one of the side sections and its associated platform section inflation of the other slide section and platform section can be restored or maintained, to enable them to be used by evacuees.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of an inflatable escape slide according to the invention, Figure 2 is a plan view of part of the slide shown in Fig. 1, drawn to an enlarged scale and with parts broken away, Figure 3 is a cross-section of the slide shown in Fig. 1, taken on the line Ill-Ill in Fig. 1 and drawn to an enlarged scale, Figure 4 is a scrap section taken from Fig.

3, drawn to an enlarged scale, and Figure 5 is a schematic plan view of part of the slide shown in Fig. 1 in combination with an inflatable platform for use by evacuees following descent on the slide.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the inflatable escape slide shown is constructed from twelve straight inflatable tubes in three banks of four tubes Al to A4, B1 to B4 and C1 to C4. The two outside banks of tubes Al to A4 and C1 to C4 make up outer walls 11 and 1 2 of the slide, while the centre bank of tubes B1 to B4 makes up a centre wall 13 3 of the slide. The three walls 11, 1 2 and 1 3 are interconnected by sets of inflatable thwart tubes 14 and 1 5 arranged at regular intervals and in staggered relation to each other along the length of the slide, as shown.As will be seen from Fig. 3 the thwart tubes 14 extend between the lowermost three tubes in the walls 11 and 1 3 while the thwart tubes 1 5 extend between the lowermost three tubes of the walls 12 and 1 3.

Two slideways 1 6 and 1 7 extend, as shown, between the tubes A2, B2 and C2 of the walls 11, 12 and 13. Each of the slideways 1 6 and 1 7 comprises upper and lower sheets 1 8 and 1 9 joined together along their longitudinal edges where they are joined to the support tubes A2, B2 and C2. The upper sheet 1 8 is a warp knitted fabric in the form of a net of relatively large mesh while the lower sheet 1 9 is formed as a woven fabric woven from continuous filament yarn and forming a net of a fine mesh.

Referring to Fig. 4, each of the tubes B1 to B4 of the centre wall 1 3 is subdivided longitudinally by a flexible baffle sheet 20 into non-communicating left-hand and right-hand compartments 21 and 22. The left-hand compartments of the centre tubes B1 to B4 are arranged in communication with each other, with the thwart tubes 1 4 and with the lefthand wall tubes Al to A4 and are arranged to be inflated from a first inflation system via feed tubes 23 and 24. The right-hand compartments 22 are likewise in communication with each other, with the thwart tubes 1 5 and with the right-hand wall tubes C1 to C4 and all are arranged to be inflated from a second inflation system through feed tubes 25 and 26.The first inflation system is independent of the second inflation system, inflation of the slide being carried out by simultaneous actuation of the two inflation systems.

Upon completion of inflation of the two slide sections by the two inflation systems, any disparity between the degree of inflation of the one in relation to the other is compensated by a displacement of the baffle sheets 20 in the centre wall tubes B1 to B4, each baffle sheet 20 distending to increase the volume of one of the compartments and reduce the volume of the adjacent compartment.

It will be seen from Fig. 4 that the dimension of each baffle sheet 20 in a direction at right-angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube is equal or substantially equal to half the circumference of the tube in which it is contained so that the baffle sheet when fully distended takes up a disposition in which it conforms to the configuration of the fully inflated tube.

If one slide section of the slide hereinbefore described deflates or fails to inflate fully, the inflation air contained in the other slide section will be redistributed causing the baffles 20 to distend, with the result that the centre wall, the outer wall and the thwart tubes of the other slide section become equally inflated but not inflated fully. Depending upon the relative sizes of the tubes forming the slide, it may be found that the partial inflation of the undamaged slide section is just sufficient to keep the slide usable for evacuees. On the other hand, if the resulting partial inflation is insufficient for the slide section to work effectively as a slide, additional pressurised air is then required in order fully to inflate the undamaged slide section, as the baffles 20 move over toward the deflated slide section.

For this purpose, additional air for each of the two slide sections is provided by two reserve air or gas cylinders, one of which is preconnected to the inflation system for one of the slide sections while the other is preconnected to the inflation system for the other slide section. As soon as an attendant is aware of a softening of one of the slide sections to an extent affecting its performance he actuates the reserve cylinder connected to the inflation system of the other slide section which then supplies reserve air for topping up the undamaged slide section as the baffles 20 move over to the damaged side, thereby maintaining the undamaged slide section at or restoring it to full inflation with the baffles 20 fully distended as illustrated by the baffle 20 in the tube B4 in Fig. 4. In this way, the undamaged slide section of the slide remains usable for the descent of evacuees.

If the attendant makes a wrong selection and actuates the reserve cylinder feeding reserve air into the damaged slide section that section of the slide will continue to deflate and by allowing movement of the baffles 20 will cause the undamaged slide section of the slide also to soften. The attendant then actuates the reserve cylinder preconnected to the undamaged slide section of the slide to bring that section back to full inflation and render it usable for evacuation.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the escape slide described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4 is adapted for use in the evacuation of passengers and crew from a ship in distress and is used, as illustrated in Fig. 5; in conjunction with an inflatable platform 27, which inflates with the slide for floating on the water surface and which is used as a reception area for persons descending on the slide in readiness for boarding liferafts brought alongside. More specifically, the platform comprises a plurality of juxtaposed longitudinally extending inflatable tubes 28 secured together and covered by a floor 29 of sheet material. The platform 27 includes a circumferentially extending inflatable tube 30 above floor level to provide adequate freeboard for the platform.The lowermost end of the slide described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4 is detachably secured to the platform at the position shown in the drawings.

The platform is subdivided longitudinally into separately inflatable non-communicating left-hand and right-hand sections, the lefthand sections extending generally to the left of the longitudinal centre line 31 and righthand sections extending generally to the right of the centre line 31. The arrangement is made such that the inflation system of the left-hand slide section serves to inflate the lefthand sections of the platform while the inflation system for the right-hand slide section serves for inflation of the right-hand sections of the platform. Feed tubes 32 and 33 extend from the left-hand slide section and feed air into the left-hand sections of the platform, while two further feed tubes (not shown) from the right-hand slide section feed air into the right-hand sections of the platform.

The platform is subdivided into its left-hand and right-hand sections without the use of flexible baffles by an appropriate choice of tubes 28 for the sections. However, if desired the platform may be subdivided in the same manner as the slide and utilise a centre wall fitted with baffles.

Claims (11)

1. An inflatable escape slide deployable to provide an inclined descent path for evacuees and comprising first and second inflatable slide sections arranged side-by-side, each slide section having a slideway and the two slideways being separated by an inflatable centre wall, flexible baffle means extending throughout the length of the centre wall and subdividing the centre wall internally into noncommunicating first and second compartments or series of compartments, the first compartment or series of compartments forming part of and being inflatable with the first slide section and the second compartment or series of compartments forming part of and being inflatable with the second slide section, and inlet means for inflation of each slide section independently of the inflation of the other slide section, whereby upon loss or absence of inflation of one slide section the flexible baffle means distends under inflation of the other slide section or can be made to distend by additional inflation of the other slide section to compensate for the absence or loss of inflation of the centre wall compartment or series of compartments of the uninflated or under-inflated slide section.

2. A slide according to claim 1, wherein each slide section includes an inflatable outer wall held in spaced relation to the centre wall by inflatable thwart tubes, and wherein the slideway of each slide section is arranged between and supported by the outer wall and the centre wall.

3. A slide according to claim 2, wherein the centre wall compartment or compartments, the outer wall and the thwart tubes of each slide section are in communication with each other and with the inlet means.

4. A slide according to claim 3, comprising a first pressurised air or gas suply means connected for inflation of the first slide section and a second pressurised air or gas supply slide section and a second pressurised air or gas supply means connected for inflation of the second slide section.

5. A slide according to claim 4, wherein each supply means includes a main supply means for supplying pressurised air or gas for inflation of the two slide sections to equal predetermined pressures and reserve supply means for supplying reserve pressurised air or gas for topping up each slide section when the baffle means distends following the absence or loss of inflation of the other slide section.

6. A slide according to claim 5, wherein each of the two outer walls and the centre wall is formed by a plurality of longitudinally extending superposed inflatable tubes and wherein the baffle means in the centre wall comprises a flexible baffle extending along the length of each tube and across the tube from an uppermost inner surface portion of the tube to a lowermost inner surface portion of the tube.

7. A slide according to claim 6, wherein the baffle comprises a sheet of flexible material, having a linear dimension between the uppermost and lowermost inner surface portions of the tube which exceeds the distance between the two inner surface portions of the tube.

8. A slide according to claim 7, wherein the linear dimension of the sheet between the uppermost and lowermost inner surface portions of the tube is equal or substantially equal to half the circumference of the tube, whereby the sheet can be distended into an uninflated or under-inflated centre wall compartment and take up a disposition in which it restores the tube to or maintains it in a fully inflated configuration.

9. A slide according to any of claims 6 to 8 wherein the slideway of each slide section comprises a sheet of material connected between and supported by a tube of the outer wall of the slide section and a corresponding tube of the centre wall.

10. A slide according to claim 9, wherein the tubes of the outer wall and the centre wall supporting the slideway of each slide section are next adjacent the uppermost tubes of the walls, which serve as a guide for persons descending the slideway.

11. A slide according to any of claims 1 to 10 and an inflatable platform for use by evacuees following descent on the slide, the inflatable platform being subdivided into noncommunicating separately inflatable platform sections arranged for inflation from the inlet means for inflation of the slide sections, the platform sections being so disposed that in the event of absence or loss of inflation of one of the slide sections and its associated platform section inflation of the other slide section and platform section can be restored or main tained.

1 2. An escape slide substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

1 3. An escape slide and inflatable platform substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.